K’taka polls: Coastal dists prepare for facilitating home voting for elderly and disabled voters

Preparations for the upcoming assembly elections in the Udupi district of Karnataka are underway, with special emphasis on facilitating voting for elderly and disabled citizens. The Election Commission has introduced a new concept this year, allowing eligible voters above the age of 80 and those with disabilities to vote from the comfort of their homes.

While Dakshina Kannada district has 46,927 voters above the age of 80 and 14,007 disabled voters, Udupi has about 31,000 voters above 80 years of age and 11,751 disabled voters. All are eligible to vote from home. However, the responsibility of facilitating this process has fallen on the Anganwadi workers who are also Booth Level Officers (BLOs).

Anganwadi workers are required to visit around 150 to 200 houses in each village with Form-12 to facilitate home voting. In areas with no transport systems, reaching these houses is a challenge. In cases, if no one is present at the house, the Anganwadi workers will have to revisit the house to fill out the form and enable home voting.

The BLOs are also responsible for reporting any immediate issues and attending Taluk offices. Currently, they are being involved in collating information on the availability of vehicles and wheelchairs for elderly and disabled voters in case they want to cast their vote in the voting booth.

With several positions vacant, the workload of Anganwadi workers has been further exacerbated by these additional election-related responsibilities.

While some Anganwadi workers take pride in performing their election duties, others are concerned that the additional responsibilities may not be completed within the specified time due to the pressure of performing multiple roles.

Though the concept of home voting is a welcome move by the Election Commission to enable all eligible citizens to exercise their franchise, many opined that EC officials should focus on implementing the service more systematically and effectively by assigning staff from other departments to this task.